The Shades of Affection
by Traingham
Summary: Left on the edge of death, Ky Kiske is forced to do away with the white mantle and open himself to a new path at the crossroads of his life. In the process he is faced with choices given to him by the women who may determine his ultimate fate.
1. Slipping off the Mantle

_Disclaimer__**: **I Do not own Guilty Gear or any of its awesome characters..._

**_Guilty Gear: Shades of Affection_**

**_Chapter One: The Fierce One_**

_By Traingham_**_  
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Ky Kiske stood poised on the crumbling stair steps of an old, half destroyed mansion that he was sent to investigate staring up at his foe with the thunderseal in a defensive stance. It was meant to be a simple reconnaissance mission, something assigned to him due to suspicion of the decrepit building being a former testing lab once used by the Post War Administration Bureau. It started off as a regular investigation until the french officer heard a loud explosion erupt from one of the lower lab levels, and sure enough, when he rushed in to survey the damage, it was him. Sol Badguy was there standing over the destroyed remains of a Justice Copy proto-type that must have been left behind to deal with intruders that might have sniffed around in the bureau's absence. The usual fighting words were exchanged between the two men and the duel kicked into gear, leading them back up to the first floor with Ky pushing Sol back while the bounty hunter defended against the flurry of slashes and stabs.**_  
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Right now Sol Badguy stood at the top of the stairway glaring down at him with the usual stance, laid back and full of openings. That would have been the truth for another man, but Sol could hardly be classified as a mere man. Past engagements with the _'Immoral Flame'_ proved that his capabilities far exceeded the common fighter and as far as that unguarded stance was concerned, it was the last that many saw in the final, fleeting seconds of their lives. Ky was currently devising an advance that would get him past it.

Sol appeared to have gotten bored with the stare down they were engaging in, taking a moment to work out a kink in his neck with a few cracks. "Stop shitting yourself, boy. We've held these same exact positions before."

Ky held the thunderseal low, tightening his biceps as the energy flowed through his arms. "Not exactly like before." He retorted, preparing a stun edge. "Prepare yourself!"

Sol answered him with the usual downward jab of his thumb and the fight resumed. Ky slashed his blade upwards sending a bolt of thunder sizzling in the red swordsman's direction. Sol flipped backwards to dodge, letting the bolt pass between the arc of his open legs, clearing the top of the stairway for Ky to advance forward and meet him on the first floor with equal footing. The knight was met with an exploding plume of flames by the time he got around the rail almost launching him up against the wall, but he defended against it with a lightning sphere that absorbed most of the impact. Sol rushed in immediately, bursting past the flames like a lunging tiger and leaping in the air to come down with a downward thrust of his right fist. It slammed directly into Ky's forehead, stunning him long enough for him to grab hold of his shoulders and follow with a knee to the chest.

"Keh!" The officer coughed out, thrown backwards by the rushing knee. He saw Sol resume his charge and managed to lift the thunderseal fast enough to deflect a downward strike from the fireseal in a clash of sparks that briefly lit up both their faces before taking that opportunity to kick the opposing man away. Ky recovered his center and fought back, charging forward and dropping into a slide to kick Sol off balance. The bounty hunter's form flashed out of his view as he jumped over him, whipping around to return to favor with a downward slash, but Ky reacted quickly, spinning around on one knee and deflecting with a rising slash that knocked Sol away for enough time to recover.

"Hyaa!"Sol went in for a straight forward kick and Ky used it to his advantage, defending against it and allowing the force of the kick to throw him back with enough distance for another stun edge, but Sol anticipated as much dashing underneath the spear of lighting when it came his way with a jet fire propelling him forward to deliver a crippling uppercut. Ky was lifted off his feet when the bounty hunter's fist smashed into his ribs, but he recovered quickly with an aerial vapor thrust. Sol immediately switched to the defensive, crossing the fireseal in front of him with both hands to brace against the concentrated blast of thunder magic and giving Ky much needed breathing space to reorient himself.

"Damn it." Ky stumbled back as soon as his two feet came in contact with the floor again and he held his side with a wince. _That could have ended me._

Sol observed the slightly hunched man for a moment, "Up for another round, or are we finished here?"

Ky steeled himself, clenching his teeth to fight against the pain in his ribs and charged forward again, "Damn you!" When Sol was in reach he jumped in the air and twisted around to bring the thunderseal down upon him with all his might. Sol braced against the brutal attack with the fireseal, the floor cracking beneath his weight from the heavy impact of both sword colliding, and he smirked up at Ky. It was one reserved for one of the few men that could possibly push him for what would inevitably come next.

"Teyaah!" Sol forced the knight away while the man hung in mid-air and dug in deep to turn off the switch that held the gear in place, crying out, "Dragon Install!" The instant it was invoked an explosion of flames surrounded him.

"Hmph." Ky grit his teeth against the pulsing pain in his ribs as the temperature in the room shot up like winter to spring. Watching Sol release the restrictions that bound his true strength he knew there was only one final card he could play. His eyes came alive with the crackle of thunder and his hair started rising as the energy welled deep inside him to decide the match with a single stroke.

Sol sprinted forward like a beast, his movements barely traceable through the untrained eye with his enhanced speed as he fearlessly charged into the eye of the storm that Ky's body stood at the center of. The distance was closed between them in the blink of an eye and the white knight released all of the energy with a single thrust that should have ended Sol instantly---if it met its mark---

"Wha--" Ky's eyes widened in horror when Sol swerved to the side just as the sword almost pierced him, and resigned himself to his fate. "Guh!" The first blow came to his stomach, an uppercut carrying a force almost strong enough to rip his body in two. Sol's left hand went ablaze as he prepared the finishing blow and Ky Kiske's world was consumed in a final, brilliant explosion that sent his body flying across the room like a rag doll and slamming into the wall. He remained plastered there for a moment with the thunderseal still gripped tightly in his right hand before gravity brought him to the floor in a heap.

"Glad to know where you stand, now?" Sol's voice cut through the building haze in Ky's mind as the darkness started pulling him in, "Lay your sword down, Ky. Your fight ended a long time ago when Justice fell. Find yourself a good woman and pursue another path before you end up like Kliff."

"S...Suhl..." Ky's right hand scraped against the floor and tried desperately to reach out for the blurry, red figure, but--

"Shut up, kid."

_**-[BLACK OUT]-

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_**.....B-Bmp.....**_

_**........B-Bmp**__**........**_

_**...........B-Bmp..........**_

_Pain. Pain meant everything to a man that was prepared to die. It was the driving force of a warrior, the defining relationship of the man and his counterparts. It made him vulnerable, mortal, sometimes even invincible. Pain was a divider and a bringer, it brought agony and ecstasy. Pain defined life._

_Ky Kiske felt pain, therefore he was not dead._

_Ky smelled grilled fish_--wait...

"Fish?" Ky opened his eyes against the dying rays of sunshine falling upon his face to find that he was no longer at the abandoned mansion. Rather, he was in a small shack with his jacket torn open and blood stained bandages wrapped around his chest and stomach in a professional manner. "A doctor's office?" He curled forward to sit up and get a better look at his surroundings. It sure didn't seem like a proper medical clinic, but there were the basic tools lying around so the owner must have had some experience.

_I can't be alone. _He focused his attention back to the matter of the grilled fish. Someone was cooking and his stomach was demanding sustenance by the sounds of all the growling it was making. Ky stood up on two wobbly feet and ducked through the curtains at the shack entrance to find two people sitting on the porch, on the sides of a grill. One of them was an old man in a worn robe, likely the person responsible for treating his wounds. The other person, however, was someone he was familiar with--

"Miss Baiken..."

The strawberry haired samurai halted her inspection of the thunderseal and regarded him with her good eye when she heard her name called, "Damn. You're more resilient than I gave you credit for." She set his blade down before reaching for her smoking pipe, "On your feet already, eh?"

"Welcome back to the world of the living, kid." The old doctor greeted him before patting the floor, "Have a seat and eat something. You'll feel better for it."

"Thank you, sir." Ky accepted the offer politely, taking a seat between them.

"Aren't you polite." The man remarked cheerfully, handing him a grilled fish on a thin wooden stick before looking to Baiken. "Still, I'm the last person you should be thanking. Try this lovely young lady for starters. She dragged you here while you were unconscious."

Said young lady let out a puff of tobacco smoke. "Don't tell him that, old man. He'll only get the wrong idea." Baiken turned her attention back to Ky. "Thank the fact that my pipe got damaged in my last fight with some fat ass."

The old man smiled at her response in a fatherly manner, "Still rough around the edges, this girl. Don't take her words too hard, she means well." His words got a snort from the samurai.

Ky locked eyes with the woman hesitantly, " Thank you miss Baiken." He thanked her with a slight bow before--"Ow!" She whacked him on the top of his head with the side of her pipe.

"Stop adding 'miss' at the front of my name, pretty boy."

Ky rubbed the top of his smarting head. "My name is Ky."

"Right then, Ky." Baiken said his name almost mockingly. "You sure got yourself busted pretty bad back there. Who the hell did you pick a fight with?"

"An old comrade and enemy." Ky answered her vaguely before shaking his head with a sigh, "It's all in the past now."

The lovely samurai inhaled another puff, her barely concealed cleavage rising, and let it out with a few blinks. "All in the past? Bullshit."

"All in the past." Ky repeated himself.

"Again, bullshit." Baiken shot back. "If someone left me to die with wounds that bad I'd return the favor and kill the bastard as soon as I was back on my feet. Don't give me that 'all in the past' bullshit."

"Sometimes that's the best way to got about it." Ky watched Baiken raise her blade and slam the end of the sheath against the floorboards. The glare she shot at him held the vibes of killing intent that he was so familiar with.

"If I knew you were this much of a coward I would have ended your life myself, Ky." She turned her head to the side and spat on the dirt. "You call yourself a man."

The old doctor intervened before her temper could get the best of her, "Calm yourself, Baiken. The man just recovered."

"Yeah?" She questioned sarcastically. "Well I don't think it was a full recovery. The man is still missing his balls." The strawberry haired samurai looked to the road and suddenly stood from the porch, adjusting her sword to her waist. "I'm heading out." She picked up her booze jar and hooked it on its waist strap before tapping her pipe and putting it away.

"Off already, hmm?" The old man mused slapping one of his knees. "Do be careful, young lady."

"Hmph." Baiken snorted, turning her back to the two men. "I don't need to be told that. Try to stay alive for my next visit, old man. No doubt my pipe will need fixing again."

"I'll try." He laughed, and the woman was off on her way again. Ky watched her off until she was but a pink speck down the road.

_Baiken..._ The french officer thought back on the expression she looked at him with and swallowed another generous chunk of fish. She certainly did not like his response, almost as if his words were an insult to her. Looking through her file back at headquarters, she had quite a few brushes with the law on her travels so perhaps she simply had personal feelings against his profession. The '_mad sword_' was what some of the officers affectionately dubbed her in the file.

"Hey kid." Ky was pulled away from his thoughts when the doctor called his attention.

"Yes?"

"I didn't want to believe it earlier, but she might have been on to something with that balls comment earlier."

"...Excuse me?" Ky blinked curiously, unsure of what to make of his comment. _What have I done to deserve this treatment?_

"You two are past acquaintances, correct?"

Ky nodded after considering the idea, "I suspect you can call us that."

"Well, I certainly can't tell what circumstances you both had in the past, but that woman saved your life. She dragged you down here with her only arm."

Ky narrowed his eyes questioningly, "But the pipe..."

The doctor stared at him.

"She said that I..." Ky felt his throat go dry as the doctor proceeded to continue staring at him. It almost felt as though he was disappointed in him.

The old man shook his head with sigh, "Boy, she saw something in you worth saving, but I highly doubt it was genius." He pointed in the direction that Baiken went, "Go after her. It seems like the only option left to you with meaning at this point."

"Right away." Ky got to his feet quickly and almost dashed off.

"Hey!" The old man stopped him in his tracks with a shout. Ky turned around and regarded him quizzically. "You're forgetting your sword." He gestured to the thunderseal lying on the porch.

Ky blinked almost feeling mortified for coming so close to leaving behind the blade that Kliff entrusted to him. "Thank you, sir!" He snatched up his sword and went off running in Baiken's general direction like a man on a mission.

The old doctor returned to his meal, munching his fish before cackling to no one in particular. _You'll likely need it to stay alive._

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**- [Guilty] {GG} [Gear] -**

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It was noteworthy how long Ky Kiske had to jog before he caught sight of the lovely Baiken walking down the road. She was either very nimble on her feet without exerting herself, or she took off running shortly after she vanished beyond their sight earlier at the old hermit's shack. Either way, he managed to catch up with her so the easy part was behind him. Predictably, now came the hard part since the last time they locked eyes she came rather close to making an attempt on his life.

Giving it a shot, "Baiken!" He surprised himself when she stopped and turned around to look in his direction, a look of confusion and irritation on her face from the looks of it. He honestly had not expected for her to hear him, much less stop for him. When he caught up to her he cracked a surprised smile, "You actually waited."

The samurai placed her hand on her hip before cocking them to the side, "What do you want, pretty boy?"

"My name is Ky."

"I don't give a shit about your name!" She scolded him like a child. "Why the hell are you following me?" Her hand rested on the hilt of her sword like a silent warning.

Ky observed her shift with his eyes discreetly, "I've decided to pursue a different path in my life," Baiken looked intrigued as he spoke, "And in order to accomplish that I wish to follow you, madame Baiken." And by the end of his sentence she looked more amused than anything else.

"You want to follow me?" She chuckled almost sinisterly. "The hell does a righteous, law upholding officer like yourself expect to accomplish by following me? You want me to be your master or something?" That hunch he had about her having something against his profession was beginning to hold some water.

Ky shook his head, "I wish to be by your side."

"Huh?" Baiken blinked, her shoulders slumping briefly before a tinge of pink colored her cheeks, and she did not look pleased. "N-No way! I don't need any useless baggage weighing me down on my travels. Leave me alone if you know what's good for you."

"How will I convince you?" Ky persisted.

She scoffed, "I don't want anything to do with a coward." With that she turned away from him and resumed her walk down the road.

"I am not a coward." He retorted calmly. "I simply see no need for pursuing vengeance." His statement stopped her on the spot like a tug on the shoulder.

"The hell do you know, pretty boy?" Her hand gripped the hilt of her blade, "What do you know about revenge?"

Ky mirrored her action. "My name is Ky." He corrected her again. "As for vengeance, I've wasted three years of my life obsessing over it and it has given me nothing, but lost time in return."

"So what is it that you're trying to tell me, pretty boy?"

"My name is Ky."

"Answer the question."

"What is the question?"

"Don't fuck with me, pretty boy."

"My name is Ky, and I'm doing nothing of the sort, madame."

"What will vengeance grant me?"

"Nothing."

There was a moment of silence before Ky watched her click the hilt of her blade out of its sheath and he assumed a stance with the thunderseal in kind. "You know what, Ky?" She kept her back to him as she finally addressed him by his name, "No one has ever pissed me off as much as you have."

Ky said nothing.

Baiken continued, "And for that reason I will remember your name the moment that I finally kill That Man," She whipped around quickly and the grass reeds that were standing on both sides of the road swayed for a moment before falling to the ground. "So that my vengeance will be even sweeter!"

"I'll give you a better reason to remember it!" Ky rushed forward as she did and slashed the very moment that he saw one of her fingers twitch. Two white arcs traced the air as their shoulders brushed each other and they whipped around to face each other silently.

_**--Shkritz! **_

Ky looked to the right sleeve of his ruined jacket just in time to see it fall off exposing his entire arm and a fresh, bleeding cut. "What..." He studied Baiken to find her without a single cut or scratch on her body. He never touched her.

The samurai studied his response and smirked viciously. "I'm not one of your usual brutes!" She finished her sentence by launching a claw at him from her armless sleeve. He reacted quickly, parrying the claw to the side and letting a stun edge rip in her direction, but the samurai vanished like the wind the moment the bolt of thunder reached her. In reality she had leapt in air swifter than his eyes could hope to follow.

"Ah!" Ky raised his gaze in time to see her descending upon him and rolled out the way, thinking ahead of her and slashing at the air to deflect a slash from the samurai. He answered her with an overhead slash and she blocked it with her sword before countering with another hidden claw that shot out from underneath her kimono. The white knight cocked his head to the side in time to avoid being hit in the face and kicked her away to regain his bearings before she could take advantage of his disorientation, but she refused to let up, using the force of his kick to her advantage and whipping around with a slash from her sword that nicked the bridge of his nose just barely. He kicked back to put some distance between them and she charged at him to keep him from doing so, sheathing her sword again and attacking with a sudden draw technique that would have taken him out if his instincts had not told him to deflect the moment the click of her hilt reached his ears.

"Damn you!" Baiken cursed him as she appeared behind him. She moved in to slash him as he had his back to her, but he whipped around with a slash to deflect the surprise attack and followed with another overhead slash only to have it blocked by her quick reflexes. What followed afterward transcended the senses as she countered with a bizarre rolling maneuver that made her vanish from his sight again. Ky attempted to whip around before it was too late, but---

"Ngh!" The white knight bit back a cry, holding his side as it suddenly burned without warning. When he held his hand before his eyes to examine it there was blood dripping from his palm. _I need to take a different approach... _He looked over his shoulder to find her standing there admiring her handy work. It didn't look as though she wanted to end this quickly.

_Or had she planned to kill me to begin with? _Ky turned around slowly to face her and lowered his blade. _Her fighting style relies on the aggression of her opponent. She counters all attacks that are directed at her from close quarters combat..._

Baiken appeared to be growing impatient with him, slapping her hand on her forehead, "The hell are you waiting for?!"

_...But how does she handle force projectiles? _With a new strategy in mind he raised his blade, sending the samurai on alert again. He tightened his biceps and let a stun edge rip in her direction fforcing her to take action and deflect it before flying at him like a bullet similar to the last time.

"Huhp!" Ky snapped his fingers and a lightning sphere came into existence right in front of him. She slammed right into it and was thrown back by the impact leaving an opening for the french officer as he charged a vapor thrust. The concentrated wave of thunder magic ripped across the road, zeroing in on her and she was forced to defend against it, presenting another opportunity for Ky to run forward and close the distance between them.

"Rah!" He whipped around and slashed in an arc, hoping to use the momentum to knock the sword out of Baiken's hand, but as soon as their blades made contact--

"Idiot!" The samurai cried out as a flurry of cherry petals obscured his view. She went in for a thrust while he was distracted, but to her shock he dodged as though he had anticipated the counter attack. The air pressure shifted without warning and--

**_KeRak!_**

Ky Kiske stomped the ground releasing an electric current that knocked Baiken off her feet and onto her back. She attempted to recover her ground quickly, but before she could react the tip of the thunderseal was at her left breast and the white knight was standing over her, his chest rising and falling as he filled his lungs with air from the exhaustion.

"Well, what now, Ky?" Baiken breathed out, feeling the sword poke her chest every time she took in a breath and it irritated her. "You going to lay my soul to rest?"

"Of course not." He replied as he withdrew his blade from her chest. The samurai stared up at him skeptically when he offered her a helping hand. "I can't be by your side if I did such a thing."

"Do you pity me, or something?" She asked him, refusing to take his hand until he answered her.

"I do not." Ky replied truthfully. "How you choose to live your life is your decision. The choices you've made were yours alone and nothing will change that. Nothing will keep you from facing the consequences of your path unless you see that for yourself."

"What are you trying to say?"

"I will not try to force my views on you." He offered her a friendly smirk. "All I ask is that you let me accompany you."

"Hmph..." Baiken was silent for a moment, studying his eyes as though she was searching through them for the truth before offering him her forearm, never letting her grip on her sword loosen. You have yourself a deal, Ky."

"I'm glad to hear that." He replied as he hoisted her to her feet.

"Not so fast, pr---Ky." Baiken corrected herself before he could do it himself. "I want that damn jacket off."

"My uniform?" He gestured to his ruined threads with a blink. "But--"

"I'm not traveling with you while you look like one of those pricks, got it?" She cut him off, pointing a finger in his face. "So take it off or I walk."

Ky nodded reluctantly and stripped the torn jacket off his lean frame. Baiken raised an eyebrow as the jacket fell to the ground and stroked her chin as she stared as if to appraise him. The former officer noticed the look of interest in her eyes and asked, "What seems to be the matter?"

"There's a lot more of a man beneath those clothes than I thought." She surprised him with a smile that made her look mischievous. "Looks promising, Ky. I have a lot of potential to work with."

"I don't understand."

"You don't need to." Baiken replied simply before leading the way down the road. "Let's get moving then. I wanna reach the next town before the bandits start coming out from behind the trees."

"Agreed." Ky nodded, shouldering the thunderseal before he followed her down the road, noticing a suspicious sway in her hips that wasn't present before. He decided not to let his eyes linger too long. "By the way, Baiken."

"Yeah." She asked, turning her head.

"Thanks again for saving me."

"Whatever." She said dismissively, a tinge of pink coloring her cheeks again. He had to admit that it was lovely sight. "There are few good men left in the world. It would've been a shame to let one die in front of me."

Ky blinked, "I can't say that I saw that coming." His remark earned him a jab to the rib from her elbow.

"Shut up. You made me say it."

He coughed, rubbing his new sore spot,"I'm glad I was here to witness it."

_**-[BLACK OUT]-

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_"What the--Baiken?"_

_**...Silence...**_

"Baiken!"

"We haven't even done anything yet and you're already crying out another woman's name."

"What..." Ky tried to move his body, but the sensation in his aching muscles was so painful that all he could do was remain still just to hold on to consciousness. It finally dawned on him that the reason it was so pitch black was due to the fact that his eyelids would not open. The only thing left to him was to confront the mysterious voice. "Who are you?! Where am I?!"

"You're exactly where you were when you ended up this way, Ky." The husky, feminine voice informed him as the rhythmic click of heels got closer to him. A hand rested on his head and began stroking his hair almost possessively. The supposedly calming gesture only made him feel even more helpless than he did when he realized that his body was inoperable. "As for who I am, I'm your guardian angel, Ky Kiske." The woman giggled sinisterly, drawing pleasure from his confusion. "Can you guess who I am? Can you?"

"I-NO..." Ky growled the name of his tormentor. "I recognize that voice now."

"No need for that tone my scrumptious eclair." I-NO cooed in his hear as she tapped him on the nose. "I'm here to take care of you."

"Take care of me?" Ky could not help but feel suspicious.

"That's right. Ky is my favorite after all."

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**_To Be Continued...

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On the next chapter:

_"We had good times! Like that time you and I went into the past to solve the case of the mysterious rapist--"_

_"I don't want to talk about that!"_

_"But it was such a twist"_


	2. Hidden Agenda

_Disclaimer__**: **I Do not own Guilty Gear or any of its awesome characters..._

**_Guilty Gear: Shades of Affection_**

**_Chapter Two: Grey Noise_**

_By Traingham_**_  
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Ky Kiske and I-No did not have what others would have dared to call a normal relationship because to label that as what they shared would have been to assume that there was some semblance of stability present between them, which was fairly non-existent. Amongst the many times that they had engaged each other in combat, there were few moments far and in between that they ever took a moment to sit down and talk, less times when one of the two weren't seriously injured and even less when the moment wasn't spent making threats to each other of the further harm that would be inflicted if provoked to continue their duels. That would have brought the number of times in which they managed to conduct themselves civilly to about once, and that took place in a prison of sorts...one that Ky had personally imprisoned her within.

That being stated, it wasn't very hard to sympathize with Ky when one took a step back to view his situation. That I-NO, of all possible people familiar with him, would come upon him in his one moment of extreme vulnerability was the worst luck possible, and her fairly ambiguous nature toward him did not help matters in the slightest. If she had only taken the opportunity presented to her and smashed his skull in with her guitar it would have saved him the anxiety that presently plagued him. His body was still numb and unresponsive, neglecting to mention the small detail that his vision had yet to return to him. From every angle it just appeared hopeless to him. He was, as chilling as it seemed, at the woman's mercy. Not that she appeared ever eager to take advantage of his disability...well, not yet anyway.

"You don't sound very happy about this development." I-NO grumbled in what could have surprisingly been interpreted as genuine disappointment by the inflection in her voice. She stared down at Ky, awaiting a jab or retort from the motionless knight; the only indication of living being the occasional grunt of pain. Perhaps the only reason the red clad guitarist had not drawn much appreciation from the sight of him so defeated was due to the fact that it wasn't a result of her own handy work, with the irritating addition that Sol Badguy had done the deed serving as the stinger to it all. Just when she thought there was a person on the Earth capable of taking him down, he proves her wrong again.

_So if not another..._I-NO stroked her chin with a gloved hand, a devious grin working its way across her lovely lips. _...That gives me an idea for the future...yeah..._

"I'm finding it"- _I-NO pulled herself away from her scheming when she heard Ky's voice_- "quite difficult to see something good coming of this chance meeting." Ky's voiced his sentiment on the matter in a slightly strained voice. To his credit he managed to sound as dignified as he ever did without letting the fear seep through his words.

I-NO cocked her hips to the side as she crossed her arms with a question of, "Meaning, blondie?"

"I don't exactly trust you, I-NO." He answered without any hesitation, which might have come on stronger if not for the fact that he was lying on the ground in tatters. He must have wanted to point at her with his right hand as he continued because she detected a twitch from his index finger. "To my knowledge it shouldn't be possible for us to be having this conversation." The witch must have caught on to his meaning quickly because he heard a faint giggle escape her, one of the disturbing variety that she was known for. The kind of giggle you heard just before the person standing over you proceeded to have their way with you. "Why aren't you at the Sacred Order?"

I-No took that moment to plant one of her boots on his back, indulging in a rare moment of gentleness by not applying enough weight to cut into his spine. "Don't insult me, Ky. I figured that you knew me better than that..."

He considered the meaning of her words carefully. Putting it that way, he could only come to one conclusion. "You could have escaped at anytime, is what you mean to tell me, correct?" I-NO had hoped that he would have been surprised, perhaps embarrassed that the order he was a knight under could be made so lightly of by the likes of one such as herself, but he ended up doing the surprising by reacting so naturally.

"What a dull reaction..." The red clad guitarist said with a pout. "You don't want this to be fun for me, do you?"

"Don't flatter yourself." Ky retorted, having her lean back if only for a moment. "I always found it odd that you were so relaxed in your cell, almost as if you hadn't felt confined in there to begin with. Your first night I remained beside your cell until morning broke and you made no attempt to break out even after being stripped of your most precious possessions. That alone aroused my suspicion, considering the sort of woman you are."

"Oh, how considerate of you to take my feelings into account." She removed her foot from his back and sat on top of him with a unchaste purr. "And you wonder why girls want you so bad." The discs in Ky's spine cracked audibly beneath her when she settled her weight upon him completely. Not that he made any note of it since he was particularly numb around that area.

"That still doesn't answer my question. Why did you leave your cell?"

"I got bored." I-NO answered him honestly as she dug the fingers of her right hand into his golden locks. The growl of displeasure that rumbled in his throat at being touched by her again only made the grin on her lovely lips crack wider, and she went on, "You stopped coming over to see me, punk. I got tired of waiting for you to show your face, so I decided to cut my little vacation short and get back to the business of things."

"That's fine." The fallen knight replied, irritating her with his unaffected tone. "Do you mind explaining why you're here then?"

"The same reason for why you're scrubbing the floor with your pretty face at the moment, mister knight." She replied, managing to suppress her own frustration from having failed to accomplish what she had intended. "Unfortunately for me, that shithead still hits like a fuckin' freight train, even after going head to head with you." Ky heard her let out a snort in a scornful way, furthering the hunch he was getting about her having a personal grudge with his rival. Her next words seemed to punctuate it for him, "Some assholes can only be so lucky before it gets downright annoying to watch."

Setting I-NO's personal feelings aside for the moment, something about what she had said caught Ky's attention. Going by her response that would have meant that she had been stealthily observing while he was having it out with Sol, which brought to reason two disturbing questions. First, had she been watching from the very beginning of the confrontation between them, or had she arrived on the scene of combat by the time they had already exchanged the first strikes? That would have lead to the second question weighing his mind, 'Had she been following him since he set out for the mission'? Had she kept him company those cold nights sleeping in the forest? The possible image of her watching him as he slept in the evening darkness chilled him like nothing else.

"You...your scheme was betting on the chance that we would injure each other, enough for you to simply drop in and finish us." He accused the red witch, his initial fears regarding her suspicious appearance resurfacing.

"Well it wasn't very original, I'll admit, but that was the general idea. If it makes you feel better I had my faith placed in you taking him down before I could do it myself."

"I'd appreciate it if you stopped now." Ky responded humorlessly, reaching the end of his patience with his tormentor. His body was still unresponsive, his thoughts were running in circles, and her incessant chatter about this and that was only serving to build up his frustration. Ky wanted to believe that what he was experiencing now was nothing more than a mere nightmare. He wanted to believe that in reality he was tossing about in one of the squeaky beds of a cheap inn that he and Baiken might have stopped at for the night, and that his partner would eventually come out of her own bed and slap him awake for disturbing her own sleep at any given moment, and yet here he still was, a prisoner to this crude witch and whatever devices she had planned for him. That I-NO spoke again brought down his willingness to believe that the nightmare would end soon.

"You're being awfully unfriendly, you know that?" She told him flatly, her playful mood apparently spoiled by his refusal to play along and humor her. "You lose a fight to Mr. Badguy and you're nothing more than a whiny little bitch afterward."

"It has nothing to do with that!" The fire in his chest finally exploded, resulting in a rather fierce retort. One that, she had been under the impression, was beyond him in his battered condition. For a moment she leaned away, caught off guard by the crisp hostility in his voice, but once that cleared she merely looked down on him with a frown. "You're after Sol, right? Then if you've no more business here, be on your way and leave me be! I'm in no condition to entertain you, nor do I wish to play the part!"

"Ky...shut up, would you?" To his puzzlement she did not respond with further abuse, but with a surprisingly cool temperament. It made the heat that welled in his chest fizzle like an extinguished match. "You're pretty dense, so I'll repeat what I said earlier. I'm here to take care of you."

"...What for? I've done nothing to earn your kindness."

"What can I say?" I-NO shrugged her shoulders. "Ky is my favorite, after all. Besides, you're gonna tell me that all the time we spent together in that prison cell never counted for anything? We had good times! Like that time you and I traveled into the past to solve the case of the mystery rapist-"

The knight furrowed his eyebrows at the mention of that particular incident, "I don't want to remember such a thing!" He cried out distressingly, improving the red clad guitarist's mood considerably as she recalled the end their misadventure.

"But it was such a twist!" She teased him mercilessly, wiggling her butt. "It certainly showed us a side of you that we don't get to see everyday."

"A side that I don't intend on revisiting anytime in the future-erm." I-NO felt the man beneath her flinch. "...I-NO...are you...sitting on me by any chance? I'm...curious."

His question made the woman form an 'O' with her lips as she rubbed her hands together mischievously, "Oooh, how nice. You're finally regaining the feeling in your body."

"...Get off of...me."

She ignored his weak demand, talking over him. "Since you're just about there, now would be the best time for me to bring you back to a hundred percent."

"What are you...talking about?" That perked Ky up, as he seemingly forgot all about her using him for a floor cushion. Now to highlight the reason why Ky Kiske would actively even think to remove her shapely behind from his back- aside from her sexually questionable tendencies- The red clad witch shared a particular physical characteristic with the lovable Dizzy, in that she weighed far more than her appearance would so deceptively belie, which made it rather uncomfortable when she sat on your spine of all place. That aside-

"I'm talking about making good on what I told you earlier." I-NO answered him confidently, though her tone was as playful as ever. Listening to her, it was hard for him to discern whether she fully intended to nurse him back to health, or if she had some nefarious scheme in mind. "When I'm done with you you'll be back to your usual irresistible self, mister knight. Of course, I will require payment if you desire my services."

"You mean this was a business transaction all along?"

"Sorry, it's part of the contract, babe." She replied smoothly. "If my services were free then you'd just abuse my assets." She giggled, sending shivers down his spine once more. "Although, I probably wouldn't be against such an interesting relationship."

"I'll pay the fee." Ky responded dejectedly, disappointing the witch when he showed no indication of being affected by her latest teasing. "I'll admit that I'm a little curious about how you intend to go about this. It never occurred to me that you could do more than destroy things with that precious guitar you love to swing around." He heaved a relieved sigh when he felt the weight of her body lift from his back, allowing him to recieve a respectable amount of oxygen into his lungs. That sigh was cut short when he felt I-NO turn him over onto his back and encircle him in her arms. She supported his upper back with one arm to keep him in a sitting position, resting her other hand on his bare chest...hmm...that was odd. Where was his jacket?

"So..." Ky cleared his throat, silently praying that he wasn't blushing with the way I-NO's hot breath tickled the inside of his right ear whenever she exhaled. "...Where do we go from here?"

"Well," The witch chuckled pleasantly, "You swallow some of my blood." Her answer got a predictably negative reaction from intended recipient, seeing as how he formed a perfect line with his lips without a word of response. "You don't like that, I take it."

"...Ehm..." Ky opened his mouth after a seemingly long period of consideration. "...That will help me...how?"

"My blood has its medical applications, believe it or not. How else do you think my body is able to take so much punishment from you brazen beasts?"

"When you put it that way it almost sounds like you're setting me up as some sort of villain."

"Anyway, you should be able to handle two or three swallows."

"_Handle_?" Ky questioned her use of the word. With the way she said it, it was almost sounded as if she meant to imply that there were some unfavorable side effects to the consumption of her blood, not that the possibility had not crossed his mind after she proposed the idea to him. On the outside she was toxic enough; He could only imagine how horrifying her insides were. "What do you mean by '_handle'_? Is there something you're not telling me?"

"Not just anyone can drink my blood, you know." She told him matter-of-factly. "A regular person would die from the nano poisoning."

A sensible pause came before his next question, "...And what makes you so confident that it won't kill me? That is, if you don't mind my asking."

"Isn't it obvious?" She asked him expectantly, causing Ky to wonder if he might have missed an important detail somewhere down the road of his short and bizarre life. When he didn't offer her any of the answers that his mind painstakingly shuffled through for, she answered for him brightly, "We're highly compatible!"

"Th-That is not the explanation that I was looking for. I simply won't accept it-"

"And if you do die I'll just turn back time and try it again, and again-"

"-H-Hey now-"

"-And again, and again-"

"-You can't possibly be serious about that-"

"-And again until we get it right!" I-NO stroked his lips with her thumb gently, eliciting a quiet, startled gasp from him, and brought her hand underneath his chin to cup it roughly so he wouldn't be able to turn his head away. It wasn't at all unlike the way a person would prepare to force a kiss on an unwilling partner, and it was at that moment when it dawned on him. She was going to go through with it whether he gave her his consent or not!

"I-NAUGH!" He cried out. "STAUHP!"

"Ngh...Ahh..." The witch sighed pleasantly, likely from drawing blood from her own arm in preparation to transfer the blood into his mouth. The unmistakable copper scent of blood made Ky wrinkle his nose as she leaned in to kiss him, and- "Bottoms up."-She captured his lips with her own, holding his head in place to squash whatever weak resistance he could put up. He moaned helplessly when he felt her tongue invade his mouth accompanied by a splash of the copper tasting substance, and tried to tighten his throat in hopes of deterring the passage of entry, however, something odd happened.

"Ough?" Ky's right eye opened wide out of pure reflex. Something...something slimy had just forced its way down his throat, but what?

"Hmm, hm, mmmm." I-NO purred into his mouth, her cheeks burning scarlet as she continued to break his defenses.

"Ungh!" Ky faintly detected the feeling in his arms returning to him and took immediate advantage of his functional limbs, placing two trembling hands on her chest to separate himself from her, ignoring the soft, warm flesh that gently pressed through the spaces between his fingers as he pushed. He felt the slimy muscle in his throat retract for a moment, thinking that she was done violating him, but just as he began to relish the reprieve her tongue dived back in, shaking him to the core. It wasn't until I-NO took notice of his right eye rolling into the back of his head that she released him from her hold, letting him fall back to the floor with a thud. Ky laid there twitching, sucking in the oxygen into his lungs that she long deprived him of.

I-NO moaned in delight, licking her lips as she watched him come back to life. "That was delicious, Ky. I'm already dying for seconds."

Ky scrambled away from, coughing in between his words. "D-Don't you get near me! J-Just how long is that tongue of yours anyway?" He backed into the wall behind him and sat there, his chest rising and falling roughly with each gulp of air that he tasted. He paled considerably when he noticed the way her eyes dipped below his waist, almost predatory like.

"There are other ways to find out." She offered sinisterly.

"I-NO, I'm warning you! I'll bite it off!" He bared his teeth at her when she got on her hands and knees to crawl to him. "A-are you listening to me, woman?"

* * *

_**- [Guilty] {GG} [Gear] -**_

_**

* * *

**_

Sitting together across from each other at one of a few tables set on the outdoor patio of a small cafe, I-NO and Ky stared at each other, or rather I-NO stared unblinkingly at Ky as he managed his best at sipping his tea with a straight face. After scaring off the young waitress when she made a small, innocent comment about her scant attire, the red clad rocker spent the rest of her time sitting there smirking at her favorite toy as though she simply couldn't let go of some joke that had popped into her head. This, understandably, made the white knight a spot uncomfortable as one might have guessed. It was true that at his point he was more than capable of fending her off if she so much as reached for him from across the table right then and there_, _but that didn't necessarily mean that it didn't bother him to think what might take place if she succeeded in getting her mitts on him_. _If what took place earlier was any kind of indication, it would not have ended pleasantly for anyone but her.

Finding it difficult to concentrate with the most recent concern lingering at the surface of his thoughts, Ky gently set the tea cup in his right hand down on its plate and raised his head to meet his companion's unsettling green eyes. "Something bothers me, I-NO." His voice was casual when he spoke to the witch, surprising when one considered that this same woman violated him earlier today, but then again they shared a bizarre relationship; One that Sol and many of Ky's other friends and acquaintances would have undoubtedly disapproved of.

I-NO, naturally giddy to know just what was discomforting him as it just happened to be her favorite subject of interest, leaned forward eagerly with a playful, "Do tell, Mr. Kiske!"

"What happened to my jacket?" He took that moment to gesture at his current state of undress, which many of the women whom passed by the table discreetly admired with soft, melodic giggles. They made no prior stops after they took their leave of the old mansion so he still looked a bit like hell; half naked with scrapes here and there. "Did you..." He trailed off, narrowing his eyes at her uneasily.

"Don't encourage me." The witch cackled with a dangerous gleam in her eyes. "You were half naked when I came back to check on you." A grin cracked on her lovely face. "You know, I'm seeing a pattern here-"

"Don't arrive at conclusions like that!" Ky snapped at her, understanding all too well what she was implying through her lewd words.

"You didn't even allow me to finish." She whined childishly, crossing her arms to complete the image.

"There's no need for it." He grumbled, raising his hand to his face to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Anyway..." The white knight stood from his seat, visibly rousing I-NO when he pushed his chair underneath the table and adjusted the thunderseal at his side, "I must be on my way."

I-NO pushed back on her chair, her grin melting away into a slight frown. "H-Hey! Where are you running off to?" Apparently she wasn't to keen on the idea of losing his company.

"Disclosing that information to you would only ensure me more trouble in the near future." Ky shot her down without missing a beat. "What does it matter to you anyway? Shouldn't you be stalking Sol?"

"Hold up, bastard!" I-NO rose from her seat, drawing attention from the other customers who had managed to ignore them up to this point. "What about my compensation, dammit? You expect me to just let you walk away like nothing?"

"You practically forced yourself on me, woman!" Ky hissed, his shoulders tensing. "B-Besides, I can't waste anymore time idling around. I've someone I must meet."

"Who?"

"What does it matter to you?" Ky finally snapped at her, finding himself annoyed with the woman's odd nosiness. "Look, I-NO, I honestly don't know what sort of relationship it is we have at this point. Despite the many times in the past that you've tried to...bludgeon me to death with your guitar, I'm willing to believe that you're not a...complete monster." He saw the slight shift in her expression and added, "In fact, regardless of whether that unusual instance of kindness in my time of need was for your own gain alone, I'm grateful for your help." He offered her a respectable bow of his head. "You know, I'd like to think that we could be friends one day, I-NO. You may have your...bad points, many in fact, but I still find you charming in some strange sense."

I-NO blinked at him, expecting more, but-

"Well, that's all." And with that Ky Kiske turned away from her and walked away.

"Ky!" I-NO caught up to him before he could get far, wrapping her arms around him from behind and pressing herself against him. "Wait, wait, wait! C'mon, tell me who it is you're gonna meet!"

"Damn, you're persistent!" Ky growled, a blush creeping up on him from the feeling of her supple body against his back. "Leave-" He tried to jerk away out of her hold, but she held on tight. "-Me alone! Let me go, I-NO!"

"Tell me who it is, dammit!"

"BAIKEN!" Ky cried out, prying one of her arms off his chest before successfully shoving her away from him. "Are you satisfied?" He glared at her in irritation, or at least he tried to. For some reason, after hearing the name of the lovely samurai leave his mouth, I-NO's expression darkened considerably. He saw her left hand twitch for the neck of her guitar, and his hand rested on the pommel of the thunderseal out of reflex. "...What is it?" The temperature of his voice dropped quickly to neutral.

The dark expression vanished from the witch's face as if it had all been an illusion. "Don't look at me that way, Ky! It's just...why her, huh?"

"It's just a feeling...now...don't follow me, I-NO." He narrowed his eye fiercely, almost as if he knew that she was plotting something unfavorable. That was the only conclusion he could come to, seeing her expression earlier. She obviously didn't want him to meet with Baiken, but he simply couldn't think of a reason why that would be the case. "I'll see you whenever I see you." This time he took a few steps back with his eyes on fixed on her before turning around and taking his leave.

The crimson witch stared silently until he was a speck in the distance before spitting on the ground with a curse of, "Fuck...and after all the trouble I went through to separate them." She relaxed after he disappeared from her sight and stretched out with a yawn. "Well, it should be a while before he catches up with her again...that is unless she's searching for him too." She shrugged her shoulders. "Whatever, I'll just keep a close eyes on sweet little Ky. If he comes close to meeting with the hot bitch then I'll just veer him off course again." She turned and walked in the opposite direction, cackling to herself loudly the entire time.

"Friends, huh?" She exploded into full blown laughter. "What a dumb ass!"

* * *

_**To Be Continued...**_

* * *

On the next chapter:

_"It's you! It's you! Oh, how lucky am I to run into you again!"_

_"Miss Kuradoberi? Oh dear..."_

_"C'mon, why don't you come with me? It's been a while, officer. I'll give you something good if you do!"_

_"Do I look like a child you can fool with promises of candy?"_


End file.
